Pages

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

#Supernatural #Texas: The Mysterious Marfa Lights

The Mysterious Marfa Lights

Strange things have always had their way of happening in the Big Bend region of West Texas. Stories of ghosts, demons and other supernatural phenomenon have been told throughout generations from prehistoric times. One of the most talk about supernatural events that occur every year are the Marfa Lights.

Marfa, Texas is an interesting small town deep in the desert that started as a cattle town but has become a hodgepodge of artists and local families.

One of the most famous attractions in Marfa is a supernatural phenomenon known as the Marfa Ghost Lights. The Marfa Ghost Lights were discovered cattle hand, Robert Reed Ellison, in 1883 who reported he had seen flickering lights while driving cattle across Mitchell Flats. He assumed the lights were Apache campfires. Many settlers reported seeing the same lights that night. When Ellison went to investigate where he believed the Apaches were located he never found any remains of a campfire. Two years later, settlers Joe and Sally Humphrey's reported seeing the same lights. There has been a long history of recorded sightings of the mystery lights. Anytime someone goes out to investigate just what the lights are they never find any evidence of what they lights actually are.

There have been many local legends told to explain what the Marfa Lights actually are. Native American legends claim that the lights are linked to the souls of the great chiefs who roamed the land, especially Chief Chinati. One Mescalero Apache legend claims that the Marfa Ghost Lights are two Native American lovers who were torn apart and are trying to find their way back together. In fact, when you do see the Marfa Ghost Lights they appear as a single yellow or white orb the size of a basketball then split apart to form two smaller separate orbs that bounce up and down in the air. The come back together again then disappear. Another Native American ghost that is attributed to the Marfa Ghost Lights is the Apache chief Alsate. Chief Alsate was a powerful Mescalero Apache war chief that was born in Mexico across from Lajitas, he roamed around the entire Big Bend region. Chief Alsate like to camp by the Chinati Mountains outside of Marfa. He frequently lead his band of warriors into Mexico to raid the border communities. The Mexican authorities chased after him for years. Eventually, they caught his band in Presidio where he was executed and his warriors were sold into slavery. Local legend claims the lights are one of many apparitions of his ghost.